Excerpt from | Oral History Interview with Taylor Barnhill, November 29, 2000. Interview K-0245. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) |
This brief passage shows that the sense that farming was waning in America is not new. Barnhill's uncle warned him away from farming in the 1960s, saying that "you'd have to be a millionaire" to start a farm from scratch. Land was growing more expensive and the rewards of farming were decreasing, so Barnhill studied agriculture in school instead of pursuing his dream of becoming a farmer. It would be interesting to know what Barnhill's vision of farming entailed, since his uncle had upset him with his treatment of his workers.